Typically, the military M-16 rifle and its civilian variants have a T-shaped charging handle that is operable by a user to retract and lock the bolt to the rear of the rifle or to clear a weapons malfunction. In turn, this allows the charging handle to engage the bolt assembly of the rifle and loads a cartridge into the chamber. The T-shaped design means that the charging handle is an elongated body with a crossbar at its rear end. Hence, a user can operate the charging handle by engaging the crossbar section with a hand or with fingers and then pulling the charging handle to the rear. When released, the forward end of the charging handle then engages the rifle's bolt assembly.
The charging handle utilizes a latch typically situated on either side of the elongated body section, and attached to the crossbar section. This latch is typically a spring-loaded L-shaped single piece with a hook on one end, and a paddle on the other end. This latch prevents inadvertent rearward movement of the charging handle by engagement of the hook and a latch pocket situated on the upper receiver of the rifle. Hence, a user can engage the paddle with a hand or finger and release the charging handle for operation. This is where the issues with charging handle latches lie. The first issue is the incompatibility of charging handles to be utilized by both right and left hand shooters, as the latch is typically located on one side of the crossbar section. U.S. Pat. No. 8,336,436 “Ambidextrous cam style charging handle” provides one of the recognized methods to eliminate left and right hand utilization incompatibility. These designs provide a means for a user to operate the charging handle with either their left or right hand.
Unfortunately, this arrangement still features a hooked latch as the release mechanism. The latch rotates about the vertical axis of the rifle relative to the firing direction of the rifle. This rotation in combination with the spring tension means that the latch is naturally at rest when the spring is neither in tension nor in compression. Hence, addition of tension to the spring means that the latch is in an unnatural position and wants to be returned to rest. Hence, operation of the charging handle causes wear to the latch pocket in which it rests when not in operation. This wear is not only unpleasant for the look of the rifle, but also detrimental to the long term use of the charging handle latch pocket.
Additionally, once the charging handle is “charged”, a cartridge is loaded into the bolt assembly. Once this cartridge is fired, the cartridge produces gas pressure which is used to load a subsequent cartridge into the bolt assembly. Unfortunately, a portion of the gas is also discharged along the bottom and the top surfaces of the charging handle which in turn impacts a shooter's eyes and face. This is undesirable and is dangerous as unused gun powder and residue can also be transported by the gas pressure and into the face and eyes of the shooter.
As with the case for the latchless designs, gas redirection designs which divert gases away from the face of the shooter have been utilized, but prove to have minimal effect in redirecting sufficient enough gases away from the shooter. Furthermore, these prior designs only focus on the gases and residue carried along the top surface of the charging handle but neglect to address the gases carried along the bottom surface of the charging handle
It is therefore desirable to provide an improved charging handle which is not only ambidextrous, but also does not feature a latch which will deteriorate the latch pocket, and will redirect residual gases carried along both the top and bottom surface of the charging handle.